academic

American  

[ak-uh-dem-ik] / ˌæk əˈdɛm ɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to a college, academy, school, or other educational institution.

   academic requirements.

2. pertaining to areas of study that are not primarily vocational or applied, as the humanities or pure mathematics.

   Synonyms:

   liberal, humanist

3. theoretical or hypothetical; not practical, realistic, or directly useful.

   an academic question;

   an academic discussion of a matter already decided.

4. learned or scholarly but lacking in worldliness, common sense, or practicality.

   Synonyms:

   theoretical

5. conforming to set rules, standards, or traditions; conventional.

   academic painting.

6. acquired by formal education, especially at a college or university.

   academic preparation for the ministry.

7. Academic, of or relating to Academe or to the Platonic school of philosophy.

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noun

1. a student or teacher at a college or university.

2. a person who is academic in background, attitudes, methods, etc..

   He was by temperament an academic, concerned with books and the arts.

3. Academic, a person who supports or advocates the Platonic school of philosophy.

4. academics, the scholarly activities of a school or university, as classroom studies or research projects.

   more emphasis on academics and less on athletics.

academic British  

/ ˌækəˈdɛmɪk /

adjective

1. belonging or relating to a place of learning, esp a college, university, or academy

2. of purely theoretical or speculative interest

   an academic argument

3. excessively concerned with intellectual matters and lacking experience of practical affairs

4. (esp of a schoolchild) having an aptitude for study

5. conforming to set rules and traditions; conventional

   an academic painter

6. relating to studies such as languages, philosophy, and pure science, rather than applied, technical, or professional studies

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noun

1. a member of a college or university

Related Words

See formal.

Other Word Forms

• academically adverb
• antiacademic adjective
• interacademic adjective
• nonacademic adjective
• proacademic adjective
• pseudoacademic adjective
• quasi-academic adjective
• semiacademic adjective
• subacademic adjective
• unacademic adjective

Etymology

Origin of academic

First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin Acadēmicus, from Greek Akadēmeikós. See academy, academe, -ic

Explanation

Something that is academic is related to school. Your parents might want to spend less time playing video games and more time focusing on academic pursuits. The noun academic refers to a professor or scholar. As a noun or an adjective, academic relates to book learning and not always in a good way. An academic discussion back in Plato's Academy was probably something better than what it has more recently come to mean: a discussion that's academic has no place in the real world; it's not practical. An academic might have a PhD in Robotics but not know how to work the TV. It doesn't have to mean stuffy, though, just related to college — like when you need an academic gown for graduation.

Example Sentences

Rather, it treats these subjects as academic disciplines, similar to, say, AP Psychology or AP Statistics.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 21, 2026

Unable to land a scholarship coming out of high school, Jones used his academic success to enroll at UCLA, where he played as a walk-on for a strong Bruin team coached by Sigi Schmid.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026

The best news here is the lack of defensiveness and arrogance that has been the typical academic response to criticism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026

Another high profile academic Prof Alice Sullivan has begun legal action against the University of Bristol.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

My packet of worksheets, my impending academic doom, the hospital, Dr. Katz, even Mom, it’s not that they feel far away; it’s that they feel like a foreign language, an alien planet.

From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon

Related Words

• academician
• lecturer
• professor
• scholar
• student